Government Worth Having: A briefing on interoperability for government leaders

Theresa A. Pardo and G. Brian Burke
Oct. 21, 2008

Abstract

Cover government worth havingWhile public officials at all levels of government play important roles in interoperability efforts, government leaders alone have the power to alleviate the institutional constraints that impede these potentially transformative, but highly complex enterprise initiatives. Unfortunately, while leaders have the unique power to make these changes, experience shows that the policy environments they have created, or in many cases inherited, often limit the capability of governments to share authority, to collaborate, and to jointly and strategically manage enterprise initiatives. To change this, leaders must understand the link between their policy decisions and the capability of governments to create the systems necessary to share information and other resources across boundaries. This paper is for government leaders and presents a unique focus on creation of the policy and management capability, rather than technical capability, necessary to create interoperable government,. It presents a set of recommendations to guide these leaders in the development of policies and principles for action.

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